>> but anyway, dennis and i both understand how hard it is to go around the state, you know. iran twice, went around the

whole state. i cannot imagine how difficult it must be to do the whole united states. and i also know that it is very, very hard on family. you know, the candidates take a lot of stuff, but, you know, i had two daughters also and it's a very interesting conversations they had with many people. but that's what support you is your family through this. just briefly before i introduce them, people ask me why my endorsing newt. well, of course i would. i wouldn't be here if i was not endorsing new but i want to leave three wars with you because i think this is important. when people go into the voting booth i want him to remember these three words. first decision, a sound vision of american exceptionalism for the 21st century. the second word is solutions, well-thought-out plans, and solutions to get them done. and the last word is probably

the most important word, and that is courage. the courage not to give in when everybody is shouting at you from five different directions but to keep that focus. so i'm excited that you can and a very, very proud and honored to be able to introduce, i don't know which one was born first, but i'm just going to do, which everyone is here. let's see, right or left? this is kathy gingrich lubbers, god, thank you. and jackie gingrich cushman. so here, they're here with you today and take you for coming to the low country. >> thank you. [applause] >> i think that's an open-ended question with the need for as but i'll go ahead and let you know, i am the eldest of the two so we won't let you leave the room wondering that little piece of the puzzle. again, thank you so much for having us in this fabulous establishment. the aroma is so enticing and i've seen some of the food

strolling by. thank our proprietor for having us, so we really appreciate it. [applause] >> it's wonderful to be here. he is known for having good debates. everybody knows that about him. people say who would you most like to see on stage against president barack obama, the answer is newt gingrich. not only did he meet those expectations but he exceeded them. i do think part of that because we're in south carolina, and it's very special, very special to me with the school year in south carolina. my father-in-law is from chester south carolina. dad is in georgia, he's a georgian. we are from georgia. we're right across the border. so i think there's a lot of familiarity. i think there's a lot of warmth that we feel from being here. but most of the i think there is a lot of passion that people

come you can feel it when you were in -- >> it was electric, wasn't it? >> it was unbelievable. i've been to a lot of debate. the electricity in the air, you can feel that forcing to your body. dad took that and he ran with it. and if you think that we should, one of the ideas i might throw up, is when he becomes the nominee, he debates president barack obama i personally think we should have a pay-per-view, all the money. [laughter] [applause] be met with a knockdown, drag out. all that money we can raise to pay down the national debt. that way like nobody can complain. i want to talk a few things about dad and why it is so important that south goa does the president, he is aware that. we are where the. and white very important that not only you vote what you drag your nearest, 10, 20, 30, how may people you can drag because it really does mean a lot. first of all we are at a

terrible point our nation's history but if we don't beat president barack obama we're going to four years of not just the same but much worse. when i could have four years of the same. it's going to get much worse tricks we have to come after public and put the nominee who not only can debate him on stage from which clearly that would be the best to debate them on stage, but a candidate that has the toughest and the courage to withstand the barrage of attacks that will come his way. it's going to happen. it's a fact. the one thing, i guess, i spent a lot of time with kathy, and the other joy is with the lifetime of dad and calista. is determined. he is not afraid. he repeated the other day, be not afraid. it's not about having courage. god is with you so you are not afraid. and he did not have to run. is not something he was compelled to do as a person. he was making a very good living

with no one bothering him. and we knew as a them and he knew as a person that if he ran that it would be long, it would be hard, it would be personally painful. but he also knew where we are as a country that he had no choice. he's doing this because my children, because of his grandchildren. is doing this because he is the only national candidate who has balanced the budget, reformed welfare, and also spending taxes. is the only one including president barack obama that really appreciate you being here but i think we'll see another great performance on thursday night. he is fun to watch and with electricity we have in south carolina i have no doubt the we go on to victory on saturday but we need everyone to call everybody they know i'm a facebook on e-mail and spread the word, we have got to have a candidate that can stand toe to toe with president barack obama and come out on top we have no other choice. we have to get it done. [applause]

>> and just to build on that a little bit, and there may be folks with questions and, of course, were delighted to answer those to the best of our abilities, but again you are all passionate. south carolina doesn't choose president. you do know a lot of people. there are a lot of people that are not to that wanted to be because the out being trained to be poll workers so we know there are people actually engaged in is giving a want to see us succeed. the people of south carolina, send a message out that we have got to eight republican conservative and christian community is doing that. they understand that if any vote is not permitted is in the end probably going to be for barack obama because let's have somebody that can pull the team together and carry the state through and make it happen. so feel free to spread the joy, spread the love, to keep watching the debates. they have been fun, and you know, newt rises to the occasion but that's an historic thing to

watch but i don't think we've ever seen this many debates this early on. and to see someone's performance and understand the reason that he is there again, these children and for jackie's children. so thank you, and i guess if you would like to have questions, we will do our best. >> can you see, what is it, that apple does not fall far from the tree? [inaudible] [laughter] >> they are so shy. why don't you start by telling us, you know your dad really, really well. and i know sometimes people are up there on tv, but what would you tell us that really, really captures the individual?

>> this is a fun story. i'm going to brag on the fact that, bear with me, that newt top notch debate coaches are actually my niece and nephew. i'm going to challenge you to make sure that when you're watching the debates, whether you're there in person are watching it at home on tv, thursday night, watch closely walks up to the podium for the first time because mackey, jackie's daughter, she has told grandma she does count his smiles. you know, he does my face right there on his piece of paper. you can see his hand. that's a you know he's going in a circle making that smiley face. >> we are serious. be that her son, robert, is quite eloquent. he says short and concise. we all know and love my dad. we know he did best in the 92nd because he is so much to say that it takes that come but even in 90 seconds short and

concise is probably still very good advice. so he is a great affinity for his grandchildren and 11 geary. they always either chat right before, they send video right before the debate. and he really listens to them. and i think it's important to keep in your mind's eye that he's getting some of the best coaching in america right now. >> they have been trying to power other things, as we all know. but it is important or any candidate to do the day beforehand. things to say in things to be aware of. he has done, we really don't have any time in a schedule, a quick read of a novel, maybe a movie or something relaxes, a call to the grandkids. that's the kind of person we need to lead. we'll be someone who has to spend a day to figure out what question so much ask them and how could they possibly respond. you really want someone who really understands what's

happening that can listen to the question and provide an answer that is deep as well as why. i love when he talks in the debates because he takes the answers and every time he broadens them. he brings the questions back up to where it's really, really important. and that shows the can of knowledge that he has because the kind of man that we need as our president. >> jackie, i would like to talk about that as well. we've had some people to come bollinger with her campaign and have been with other campaigns you over the months. one of the question to ask is how does he prepare for debate. at i can see this firsthand. and we let them know this. the speaker unwinds, he relaxes. aegis prepares but it's all in his head come in his mind and that's why he's such an exceptional debated because he doesn't have his six talking points that he's not sitting back there getting drilled what you say. when you catch them on a debate stage he has the knowledge base to be -- express his point to

the american people to a point where they could understand were as others when you can alter talking points, we do not need that in a nominee. [inaudible] when you get them a debate stage, he's going to stand on its own. he might have to walk around the teleprompter but he will have to be accountable. the only person who will expose him is speaker gingrich. >> richard is her former state representative here in the area. he's been a great help with the campaign. you so put things together. i would like to have him come up for a moment to see if he could say a few words as well. >> richard and my husband are here and we really appreciate them being year. but richard and i go back to

north carolina day so we have been friends longer than he would like to admit. >> thank you. it's great to be here with kathy. i've been with her dad a few times, and when i was in the legislature back in the 1980s in north carolina, i was, kathy was living in north carolina, at a coffee shop there and paul was in school, and developing his tennis career. but i had the opportunity to attend and number of southern republican exchange meetings. newt and bill bennet and other conservatives would come to an we talked about how you govern from a conservative perspective, which when republicans have not had controlled congress for over 40 years, we didn't have a single control of a single state in the south, as far as state legislatures but we were discussing how do you govern from a conservative perspective. so the folks who would criticize newt as not being conservative i can tell you he was one that was in the vanguard of developing the modern conservative movement as far as getting control of

things. there's one thing i want to leave with you is newt keeps talking about when you hear him speak, i'm not asking you to be for me, because if you just are forming you will elected and then you say i hope he takes care things that he says i want you to be with me. the reason that's important is this is bigger than newt gingrich. this needs to be a movement about turning this country around and getting back to constitutional principles and living based on what the constitution says that the federal government has gotten so far beyond what our founders intended its role to be. i can member one time, i never even mentioned this to kathy i don't think him but i was sitting down with newt and probably the late 1980s, it might've in 1990 at a meeting in atlanta. he made the point he had criticized ronald reagan to his face about not doing more to reverse the entitlement programs and get more conservative ideas pushed while reagan was president. and reagan told him that newt,

we're just are this process. it's up to you guys to continue it. he met great opposition as big or even among some other republicans because he was pushing for changes they were not used to and that's what a lot of the folks say negative things. but it's because he is trying to push the conservative ideals that we have asked, that would talk to in the things went in the 1980s about how do you govern with conservative perspective. that's what newt is bringing out. and with his contract for america, now he has a new contract with america. his players don't just elect newt gingrich, but if you don't elect the congress can you don't elect the house and senate to help you make these things happen it's not going to happen. that's why it's a movement. it's not about just newt gingrich. newt gingrich is the leader of the movement. we've got to all help make the movement truly become a movement. hear him talk on the news about ron paul's efforts as a movement. well, there's a lot of people bought into because it's a movement. we need people to buy into what newt gay which is talk about.

buy into it as a part of a movement not just to support newt gingrich but to support the changes that we've got to to turn this country around it and i'll take what honest i don't even think it's about beating barack obama even though we want to do that. the bigger issue is not about beating barack obama and getting control of the white house can it's actually turning this country back to the constitutional principles that made a great and that's what i think newt has the ability to do. [applause] >> good job, perfect. >> it's a pleasure to be with newt's daughters and just encourage all like this do to get and work hard and get as many votes to the polls on saturday as we can, and get newt elected president. >> if anybody has any questions after this, go to the newt.org, tons of information, newt.org in any of your friends. that's a great place to go. hand up, awesome. beer can i close on one thing

also? i'm looking at kids and, of course, i'm in education but i want you to look specifically at your dad's education plan. a lot of people do not realize that the responsibility for education is in the state constitution, and it is a state right issue, quite frankly. and i know that your dad have spoken that we really need to get them out of our hair, so to speak, and not only to downsize the u.s. department of education but to make sure that the money gets to the local classrooms for kids are can also to offer more choices, kids learn in different ways and this different curriculum. but if we don't have an educated workforce. he said this the other night, that it's not just how you do start it, as he told the old -- home audience, they started cleaning. >> absolutely. >> but you want children to learn and work.

you want them to have opportunities. i have one last question for you. what's the most often question you can ask? >> i don't know. may be what it's like to be newt's daughter. we are the only ones who get that. they don't ask anybody else that, speaking on their behalf. that's probably the biggest question. and my answer actually is it's a lot of fun. we have grown up living a very vibrant life, doing a lot of fun things. there have been challenges but they are not unlike challenges that most of you face, whether it's family issues, health issues, financial issues. but it's also great opportunity to we get to meet a lot of really, really, really nice people such as yourselves. that's by the most frequent question. i was seven when he began campaigning. he lost twice before he won. so i think one of things i learned from him was process is, how to be very persistent, has

been very helpful in my life. you can see it today when he campaigned, he is still very persistent. but i do think we have been very lucky people are very close to him and i said early but i'm very serious, one of the joys of campaigning has been spending time with my sister. i'm a little sad with paul yesterday. i love paul. that means i can spend as much time with my sister. were glad to palfrey. it's been fun to be on the bus with calista and with debt and we are very close family. he's a lot of fun because by the one thing people don't know about him, he looks so serious. he know so much, he is a really fun guy. i mean, he just is flat out fun, he's a funny. and i wish everyone would know him like i do. he's a wonderful person but he's a great father. he's an even better grandfather. he's a great guy. he's in it for the right reason and we really appreciate all of your help. [applause]

>> i would just like to come up and also bring out, it's my job here to motivate all of you indicate you out to the polls to speak your heart, speaker my. i think it's very important rely south carolina plays a very historical role in this process not just the fact that we've had presidents since 1980, but in this unique election cycle would it be in the debates that we've had, it's true of the challenges we face as a country. and moved by myself the most people don't realize that the 21st century contract of america is a management document. it is not a campaign platform. if you go to newt.org you will find many years of knowledge and research that goes into giving you specific ideas and solutions on how you pick the problems it faces country is exact opposite of what we've seen with barack obama where there is no plan, no vision. is mulling a run. is clued in over center court have the opposite with the gore we have a lot of experience that

a truly believe have prepared him for this move. i believe it is uniquely qualifies him to offer the direction we need in this country and give south carolina a unique opportunity stand up on behalf of the rest of america to determine that we will have a conservative nominee. we will have a conservative nominee that will draw contrast between us and barack obama and he will take the fight to obama. you will expose him for his record and we will win the white house and we'll get this country back to the constitutional on which it found and where the right man for the job. i urge all of you to go out, recruit your friends, recruit everyone you've got. if they're not in favor tell them to call me, i will talk them into it. get them here. let's get into the poll. let's do it on saturday because we're speaking on behalf of the entire nation. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. they're going to stay to talk personally. this is such a shy group, you know. i mean, i've never know these people to be this shy, quite

frankly. thank you again for being here. >> thank you for coming. [inaudible conversations] >> it may take a lot of neighbors, but that's all right. that's the way it works. [inaudible conversations]

>> thank you, thank you so much for coming. i appreciate it. thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> well, he's got my vote. he's got my families vote. and i do believe that's my car

back -- [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> he's the one that dominates the debates.

his numbers rise in the pole. that's the way it is a. the reality is he is the person the candidate president barack obama. he's a person who can stand up and say i balanced the budget and you haven't done it once. said to have that contrast would be enormous. the next few days, the next few weeks, people try to provide noise to get in the way. [inaudible conversations]

>> he's very articulate. he has real examples. we were talking last night. we know this is going to get more and more challenging. he's ready. there was an article about him being -- he just keeps marching and trudging forward, no matter what. he's ready. >> is there a particular topic you think your dad ago

particularly toe to toe with barack obama? >> i think anyone. there is no debate prep so we're not worried about certain areas. he has done this for decades. that's one of the strengths he had. we worry about oh, my gosh, they will bring up something he doesn't know -- [inaudible] we are thrilled to be here. [inaudible conversations] >> this is richard brooks. >> nice to meet you, thanks for coming. >> he's in charge now.

he was a sports reporter but now he's in charge. >> oh, good. >> he used to wear a bowtie. >> good for you. thanks for coming by. >> i love ribs. >> they are really good. >> i was looking to see if they have -- >> the three bone plate is about all you want to eat. >> really? >> if you get the whole rack you will carry it around in a white box.

>> i want some barbecued ago. >> how many ribs and a half rack? >> about 12 inches. >> [inaudible conversations]

an >> [inaudible conversations]

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>> the republican candidates are spending the day in south carolina ahead of saturday's primary. our road to the white house coverage continues this morning when congressman ron paul speaks of the college of charleston. live coverage begins at 11 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> defense secretary leon panetta announced an initiative to assist victims of sexual assault on the military. the u.s. conference and mayors host a discussion about the economy. and later, technology companies voiced their opposition to internet regulation bills. >> you are watching c-span2 with politics and public affairs weekdays featuring live coverage of the u.s. senate. on weeknights watch key public policy events. every week in the latest nonfiction authors and books on book tv. you can see past programs and get our schedules at our website. you can join in the conversation

on social media sites. >> the pentagon has released new initiatives to assist victims of sexual assault in the military. defense secretary leon panetta outlined what the military is doing at this 20 minute briefing. {>>} good afternoon. when i was sworn into the office of secretary of defense, i said that i had no higher

responsibility than to protect those who are protecting america. our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line every day to try to keep america safe. we have a moral duty to keep them safe from those who would attack their dignity and their honor. that's why i've been so concerned by the problem of sexual assault in the military. sexual assault has no place in this department. it is an affront to the basic american values we defend, and it is a stain on the good honor of the great majority of our troops and their -- and our families. as leaders of this department, we're committed to doing

everything we can to ensure the safety, dignity and well-being of our people. these men and these women who are willing to fight and to die, if necessary, to protect and serve our country -- they're entitled to much better protection. their families and their dependents also sacrifice and serve and so, for that reason, we have to spare no effort in order to protect them against this heinous crime. the number of sexual assaults in the military is unacceptable. last year 3,191 reports of sexual assault came in. but i have to tell you that

because we assume that this is a very underreported crime, the estimate is that the actually is closer 19,000. one sexual assault is one too many. since taking this office, i've made it a top priority to do everything we can to reduce and prevent sexual assault, to make victims of sexual assault feel secure enough to report this crime without fear of retribution or harm to their career, and to hold the perpetrators appropriately accountable. in all these efforts, i've worked closely with the military and civilian leadership of the department. i've discussed this subject with the service secretaries, with the chairman and the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of

staff and all of the service chiefs. the latest meeting was as recently as last week. they completely share my sense of urgency and commitment to addressing this problem, as do members of congress with whom i consult regularly on this issue. to ensure that this issue received proper visibility and attention within the department, a two-star officer, air force major general mary kay hertog, was appointed to serve as director of the department's sexual assault prevention and response office last august. general hertog has done a great job coordinating a dod-wide effort to address this serious and complex problem. ..

>> to protect them from possible harassment and remove them from proximity to the alleged perpetrator. second, we will also require the retention of written report of sexual assault to law enforcement to be retained for a period of 50 years. the reason for that is to have these records available so that it will make it easier for

veterans to file a claim with the department of veterans affairs at a later date. these two policies are the first of a broader package of proposals that we will be presenting in the coming months, many of which will require legislative action by the congress. today i want to announce some additional steps that we are taking. first, i've directed the establishment of a dod sexual assault advocate certification program. it will require our sexual assault response coordinators and victim advocates to obtain a credential aligned with national standards. this will help insure that the victims of sexual assault receive the best care from properly trained and credentialed professionals who can provide crucial assistance

from the moment an assault is committed. second, i've directed the department to expand our support to asalt -- assault victims to include military spouses and adult military dependents who will now be able, this was not the case before, they will now be able to file confidential reports and receive the services of around victim advocate and a sexual assault response coordinator. in addition, we're going to insure that dod civilians stationed abroad and dod u.s. citizen contractors in combat areas receive emergency care and the help of a response coordinator and a victim advocate. third, because sexual assault cases are some of the toughest cases to investigate and to

prosecute, i've increased funding for investigators and for judge advocates to receive specialized training. we're also putting in place one integrated data system. the data systems, frankly, were spread among the various services. we're going to put 'em together into one data system in order to track sexual assault reports and monitor case management so that we'll have a comprehensive database or information available later this year. and finally, in addition to our focus on taking care of victims and holding perpetrators appropriately accountable, we've been focusing on what more can we do to try to prevent sexual assault. our leaders in uniform, officers and enlisted, are on the front lines of this effort. they have to be. we must all be leaders here.

for this reason i'm directing an assessment due in 120 day on how we train our commanding officers and senior enlisted leaders on sexual assault prevention and response and what we can do to strengthen that training. it's important that everyone in uniform be alert to this problem and have the leadership training to help prevent these crimes from occurring. these are important steps, but i want to be clear that this is an ongoing effort that will remain a top priority. there is much more work to be done to prevent this crime. and we will be announcing additional initiatives over the coming weeks and months. let me close by speaking directly to the victims of sexual assault in this department.

i deeply regret that such crimes occur in the u.s. military. and i will do all i can to prevent these sexual assaults from occurring in the department of defense. i'm committed to providing you the support and resources you need and to taking whatever steps are necessary to keep what happened to you from happening to others. the united states military has a zero tolerance policy for sexual assault, and we will hold the perpetrators appropriately accountable. i expect everybody in this department to live up to the high standards that we have set and to treat each other with dignity and with respect. in a military force where the promise is to help each other in

battle and to leave nobody behind, that promise must begin by honoring the dignity of every person on or off the battlefield. thank you. i'm going to ask major hertog to join me. she knows these issues. yes. >> mr. secretary, the things you just announced today appear to be changes at the mar gyp. what is the core -- margin. what is the core reason the defense department has been unable to contain this problem, and also, could you explain why the u.s. and israel postponed the air defense exercise? >> on the first problem, i'm also going to turn to the major general, too, to also respond to that. sexual assault, you know, costs

the country -- across the country has been a difficult crime for communities and states and law enforcement to deal with. it's in the very may have of the crime, and that's true here in the military as well. individuals who are the victims hesitate to report these crimes, there's peer pressure not to, not to report it, there's concern about how it impacts on your career, and so as a result of that and the difficulty of prosecuting these cases, too often these cases go unreported. what we've tried to do is tried to change the mindset here, and that's already begun. i mean n talking with the service secretaries and the service chiefs, it's clear that they share the concern that i've just reflected. and what we are seeing are more reports coming in, and what we are seeing are more prosecutions that are taking place. but this has to be a continuing effort. the most important thing i think we can do here is to try to

train leaders at the command level to make clear that they're aware of this issue and that even, both enlisted and officer alike, are able to say when they see the possibility of these situations either developing or beginning to occur that they take steps to stop it. that's the best way to try to maintain some kind of zero tolerance policy here. >> i would just reiterate what the secretary said. every week we assess hundreds of new military members, and every week we have to try to inculcate in them the service core values that you take care of each other, that sexual assault is a crime, and that's why training up front at the beginning, basic training, all the way through somebody's career is so very important as well as training our officers. i look at it as a triad between our commanders, our investigators and our prosecutors, making sure that the commander builts that command climate where somebody feels comfortable in coming forward to say i've been a

victim of sexual assault, and that investigator knowing what he or she must do to investigate, and that prosecute to take that strong case to trial to hold those perpetrators accountable. >> on the question on the exercise, the minister barak approached me and indicated that they were interested in postponing the exercise. we looked at it and determined, as we always do, this was, i think, about -- a number of exercises, about the 12th exercise we have had -- that in order to be able to plan better and to do this so that we would be able to conduct that exercise, that it would be better to postpone it, to have planning efforts that would lead up to the exercise and to get it tone. so we're -- done. so we're both committed to making the exercise occur, but they thought if it would be better if we postponed it until

a later date in order that we could plan better for the exercise. >> has nothing to do with iran? >> mr. secretary, both of you spoke about holding the perpetrators accountable, yet the prosecution and conviction rates are pretty low. do you agree there has to be more aggressive pursuit and prosecution of perpetrators, and how do you go about getting that done? >> for successful prosecutions to take place, they've got to have good evidence, they've got to be able to nail the case in court. and oftentimeses, as you know, these cases come town to one person -- come down to one person's word against another. so what needs to be done is to make sure that evidence can be gathered, that people who are victims will report quickly so that the evidence can be gathered quickly and early. and if those steps are taken, what i want to assure then is

that the prosecutors take these cases seriously and take these cases to court. oftentimes there's a hesitancy because of what i just said. we've got to make sure that prosecutors are as aggressive as we feel they should be in these instances in order to make sure that the signal is sent that anybody who does this is going to be held accountable. >> and i would just add to that, that's why we are so intent on getting some of the specialized training for our investigators as well as our trial counsels, to be able to handle these kinds of cases. because they are real difficult to prosecute as well as to interview victims of sexual assault to build that best case to take forward. >> 19,000's a big number. do either of you have data that shows whether this is the worst problem in the military -- a worse problem in the military than it is in the rest of society? and if i could ask you a separate question, has iran's threats to close the strait of

hormuz caused you to make any changes in the disposition of u.s. forces in that area? >> the 19,000 figure was an estimate that we did based on a survey back in 2010. and, now, that was not 19,000 people that came forward and said i've been a victim, but that was based on a 100,000 sample. we got about 2,000 positives that said they had been sexually assaulted in the previous year, so we think that's a good number. four years prior to that in 2006 when we did the first sample survey, the figure was an estimate of 34,000. so we're starting to see it come down. in another couple year, and we do this survey every four years, we will do another survey to find out, hopefully, that it's on the downside. >> how does it compare with the rest of society? >> i don't know that anybody has got a sample, a survey that says this is what we have state to state or by the united states,

to be quite honest with you. >> with regards to your question, david, you know, i've been reading some of the reports in the press, and i guess i just want to make clear that we have always maintained a very strong presence in that region. we have a navy fleet located there, we have a military presence in that region, and we have, you know, we have continually maintained a strong presence in the region to make very clear that we were going to do everything possible to help secure the peace in that part of the world. and so the answer to your question is that, you know, we obviously always continue to make preparations to be prepared for any contingency, but we are not making any special steps at

this point in order to deal with the situation. why? because, frankly, we are fully prepared to deal with that situation now. >> are you seeing a spike in the numbers of these sexual case assault cases in the last ten years, and do you link it to the current wars? and if i could just add, there are reports from iran from lawmakers, they're saying the president, president obama, sent a letter to their leadership asking for talks s. that true? >> okay, you do the first one. >> we haven't seen a spike, but we've seen an increase in the number of reports. we started taking reports with our options ricketted/unrestricted back in 2005. so since then the number of reports have steadily tracked up. to me, that's not always a bad

thing. you could also look at it in the fact that, yes, more people are now maybe perhaps aware of what sexual assault is, the stigma maybe to report has been reduced, so we want them to come forward to make that report to us. >> with regards to, you know, the, obviously, you know, we have always a made clear what our oil policies are there with regards to iran both in terms of their not obtaining a nuclear weapon and also, obviously, not closing the straits of hormuz. and our goal has always been to make very clear that we would hope that any differences that we have, any concerns that we have can be peacefully resolved and done through international laws and international rules. we abide by those international laws and international rules. we would hope that iran would do the same. as far as communications, we

have panel channels in which we deal with the iranians, and we -- >> [inaudible] send a letter? >> i can't comment on that. >> last question. >> sir, is diplomacy still a viable option with iran? is this something the u.s. is seeking to engage in? >> i think it's always an option to try to be able to pursue diplomacy. you know, making very clear that in order for that to work, it takes two to be able toen gauge. engage. and we've always expressed a willingness to try to do that, but we've always made clear that in terms of any threats to the region, in terms of some of the behavior that they've conducted in the region that we'll also be prepared to respond militarily if we have to. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. hover argued a couple of

things -- >> hoover argued a couple of things. he argued that american policy toward japan in 1940 and '41 was rather provocative, and perhaps in a juvenile way, he said we're putting pins in a rattlesnake, and eventually, the rattlesnake will strike back. >> saturday night on "after words" on booktv editor and hoover scholar george nash on the former president's evaluation of executive branch decisions starting with the second world war right through the cold war with the soviet union at 10 eastern. also this weekend, jeff charlotte on religion in america from sweet heaven when i die, saturday at 8 p.m. and sunday night at 8:15, jay wexler on understanding our constitution by looking at the odd clauses. booktv, every weekend on c-span2. >> now, a discussion about the state of the economy and how cities are affected. we'll hear from siemens corporation see grow eric

spiegel -- ceo eric spiegel and pollster joel benenson. from the u.s. conference of mayors' winter meeting, this is an hour and a half. [inaudible conversations] >> yeah, absolutely. okay. can i have your attention, please? i just want to remind everyone that the discussion about this winter meeting, um, doesn't exactly happen in this room, but it also happens online. so i invite you all when tweeting to use our hash tag, uscm winter, when posting tweets. it's a great way to see what others are saying and to bring the conversation beyond capitol hill to the hotel. also we are asking mayors to sit down with our film crew for a few minutes during this meeting

to talk about what happens when we invest in cities, the impact of congressional budget cuts and the measures you have taken to help create jobs. we want to share them later, your answers, via facebook, twitter and youtube, and as we lead up into the president's state of the union and the release of the budget. the filming for this initiative will be going on during our meeting hours in the ohio room starting today going through friday. so i wouldal, i urge you to go by and to be filmed, and we'll put you on our web site as we go forward: i'd like to take this opportunity to thank the sponsors of this year's winter meeting; the american beverage association, the americans for the arts, hdr, interface

americas, starbucks coffee company and this year's title sponsor, siemens. it's my great pleasure to introduce eric spiegel, the ceo and president of siemens corporation and ceo of the u.s. region. siemens had more than $22 billion in annual u.s. sales in 2011, employs over 60,000 american employees throughout the 50 states and puerto rico. siemens' relationship with the conference extends far beyond our annual winter meetings for which they have been great title sponsors. they're also sponsor ago series of discussions we will be having related to exports, ports, work force innovation and energy efficiency. and they'll partner with us to continue the success of sustainable cities. across this united states. please join me in welcoming back eric spiegel.

[applause] >> thank you, tom, and thank you, mayors, for having me here this afternoon. as you can probably guess, this is a very important event for siemens. this conference is about an issue that we've all been thinking about a lot for the last several years, how do we create jobs, and how do we create a lasting and vibrant economic recovery. it's also worth recognizing that recent numbers suggest that the u.s. economy may be coming back a little. i think last month we added about 200,000 jobs. i think we have a long way to go, but i'm optimistic, more optimistic than i was a few months ago. i think it's also, we should note that the strength of our

economy a lot of the recovery, i think, is due to the manufacturing sector which is what i'd like to talk a little bit about today. in fact, manufacturing employment grew by about 136,000 jobs last year which, amazingly, is the first time that we've had jobs growth in manufacturing in this country since 1997. okay? i'm a strong believer that if america is going to have a recovery, that it's going to be led by manufacturing. and i believe just as strongly that we have the opportunity to bring this to reality. so let me tell you a little bit about why i believe that. there's been a sense over the last decade or so that the decline of american manufacturing was inevitability that couldn't be avoided. people assume that because labor was cheaper elsewhere and because no company would build something that costs more when they could build it for less

that manufacturing in the u.s. was doomed, and to some extent over the past decade they've been right. but that conclusion assumes several things that have turned out to be wrong. first, that cheaper wages would always lead to cheaper production costs. secondly, that many of the products of the future like many of the products of the past would essentially be commodities. and that could be built with equal quality and equal technology just about anywhere in the world. and third, that the productivity of the workers in low cost countries would be comparable to workers in the u.s. these assumptions were mostly right when it came to manufacturing things like textiles and furniture and shoes. lower technology products that don't require a lot of up front innovation or a lot of back end precision. but what we are seeing is that high technology products can't

be built just anywhere, nor can they be built necessarily at a lower cost. high-tech products need to be built where they can be improved and innovated, and the higher a product's value, the less wages really matter. if you're manufacturing blue jeans, your highest cost probably is your wages. but if you're manufacturing gas turbines, as we do, your wage rates are a lot less significant to your income statement. and when you consider american workers are three times, three times more productive than chinese workers, well, the gap gets even less. what that means for america is that high-end, capital-intensive manufacturing is the way of the future. the revival of the manufacturing sector will depend on our willingness, all of us, to invest in those technologies and also to continue to drive productivity. increasingly, the companies that

are manufacturing around and in your cities are doing just that. but there's another important component for us to keep in mind. if you can't improve the product here, you're not going to be successful. sometimes products get to the point where you can't make the next generation much better than the current generation. for example, you can try to add an internet connection to an alarm clock, or you can put a remote control on a trash can, but at some point you've got it about as good as it's ever going to be. when that happens, the product becomes a commodity, and that means many of our competitors from around the world can now build them just like you can, but probably a lot cheap. and that's really been game over for manufacturing in the u.s. i raise this point because it illustrates what american manufacturing has to do going forward if we want to improve our competitive position. we need to build technologies that constantly improve. we need to compete with the rest

of the world by leveraging the strength of our innovation so that the next iteration of what we're building can be much better than the current version. that's why there's been such a strong push for companies like ours to build things like turbines and trains, medical equipment, clean coal and smart grid. because with the right army of innovators, each of these products will have strong opportunities for growth here in the u.s. for example, we just expanded our plant in charlotte where we build the world east most advanced, most efficient gas turbine. we build it here because we know the next generation of that plant will be much better than our current one, and that's why we marry our manufacturing and r&d employees at the plant. just last week the export/import bank announced that it was building -- providing a loan for customers in saudi arabia so we could export ten of these large gas turbines to the kingdom. that's a billion dollar deal, but more importantly, it creates

700 jobs in charlotte and will allow us to achieve our vision of adding, ultimately,1100 jobs there. the average job is about $70,000 per year. more importantly, it's going to create jobs along the whole supply chain and logistics, customer service, engineering, etc., and ultimately will add about 200,000 additional jobs to the local economy in charlotte, and i hope that makes mayor fox very happy. [laughter] but the truth is, i'm going to wrap up here. the truth is that this innovation isn't happening here, it's happening all around the world. offshore wind and high-speed rail in europe, biofuels in brazil, battery technology in asia. but too many advances are help happening elsewhere. we need to focus on how we can bring more here. and that's -- if we keep continuing to play catch-up, there will be a point when we aren't a leader in innovation anymore, and when that happens, we really don't have any

competitive position to be leveraged, and i think that's what's happened in the last decade. if you saw the article today, over the last decade we've lost over 25% of our high technology manufacturing jobs in this country, and we need to bring those back. but this conversation isn't just about us versus the rest of the world, it's about what we need to do with our cities like you, and there's a lot of factors that go into that decision. but the most important ones for us are skilled labor and having a productive work force, also thinking about higher education in the cities and how we improve that, a modern infrastructure, but also building a link to r&d and manufacturing. so cities that have high-tech manufacturing and r&d components are very attractive to us. so we're eager to partner with you all around these issues. we think we've figured out how to help cities make this work, and we've got jobs available and new technologies that we're trying to bring to this country. i just want to leave you with one final thought.

there's another reason why global companies like ours want to make things work in the united states. it's not just because we believe in the innovative strength of america, but it's also because as a global company we know that the rest of the world wants to do business here. we see the power of stamping "made in america" on our products. the rest of the world trusts the u.s. as a business marter in, and they -- partner. so i'm convinced we're on the precipice of a new dawn of manufacturing here in the u.s. companies want to be here, we want to be here, and there's good reasons to be here. thank you very much. [applause] >> i see that we have our host mayor gray here. let's give him a big hand. [applause] thank you, eric, for that

presentation. i want to say to you that the mayors all across the nation are focused on the issue of infrastructure and investment, and that's why we're here to tell the congress that they need to do their job, and they need to focus on our jobs. i'd like to now introduce the district of columbia mayor, vince, to welcome us to his city. right from the start of his term, mayor gray's been an active mayor of the u.s. conference of mayor. mayor, thank you for your support and your leadership. please, come up. [applause] >> good to see you, sir. thank you very much. good afternoon, everybody. i am delighted to be here. thank you, mayor via ri goes saw, for your leadership. it has been a wonderful

experience for me for this past year to be a part of the u.s. conference of mayors, and i look forward to continuing to work with you, to work with all of our colleagues out here as we grapple with some of these very daunting issues that we face. first of all, let me welcome you to the district of columbia. we're delighted to have you here. i probably should have said welcome to the state of new columbia masquerading as the city because we hope the day comes when we are the 51st state in the nation. [applause] but if that were to happen in the foreseeable future which is unlikely, i'd still be a member of the u.s. conference of mayors because i enjoy coming here and being a part of what's going on here. i think one of the greatest values, frankly, to me, of the membership here is the collegiality, the collaboration, the cooperation among the members. and the informal relationships that evolve from these meetings have been invaluable to me as i have been able to work with people who have common problems,

who have common issues and together work towards solutions to some of those daunting and complex problems that we face. we certainly all face the challenges of public education, the undereducation, the miseducation of our children and the results that emanate from that. and some of the other problems that we face in our cities. the continual shrinkage here in the district of columbia at least of affordable housing, the resulting increase -- especially for us -- in the young, homeless families. we have a hundred more families this january in shelter than we did last january, and we expect it to only worsen as we get further into the winter. and facing the question of how we create housing and opportunity for young families who may be at the margins of income. and be certainly -- certainly, we all grapple with crime although we are delighted here in the district of columbia, we just had a banner year.

we had fewer murders in 2011 than we've had in the last 48 years, since 1963, and we hope to be able to continue in that trek. [applause] direction. and, of course, the major issue for so many of us is unemployment. i was delighted to be a part of a panel yesterday, i appreciate mayor villaraigosa, your leadership on focusing on infrastructure, focusing on unemployment. we had a rich and robust discussion yesterday about tactics that we are using, strategies that we're using to address unemployment. we still have even though it's coming down, we have an unemployment rate in the city of 10.6% which belies the reality that in some sectors of the city we have unemployment as high as 20-25% which is absolutely overwhelming. i would hope that out of yesterday's rich discussion that we could take some of those ideas, put them into a publication, put them on the internet, put them online and allow us to be able to access that kind of information because

i think that is one among the many, one of the greatest benefits that we have of being a part of the u.s. conference of majors. -- mayors. so i want to welcome you all here, i'm delighted to have you in our great city. we hope you will go all across the city while you're here, and i want to ask you one other thing as we all face these economic pressures, and that is while you're here, spend absolutely every dime that you have in your pocket. [laughter] it doesn't just have to be cash. we'll take credit cards, we'll take checks. and for this group we'll even take an iou. [laughter] thank you all very much and enjoy your week. [applause] [laughter] >> that's the way you do it, baby. that's the way you do it. that's my kind of of mayor; spend, spend, spend. i never miss an opportunity to welcome people to l.a. and say shop until you drop. [laughter] buy until you -- i won't say that. but thank you. thank you. and you are always so gracious

to welcome us. mayors, welcome to our nation's capital, but before i begin, i'd like to thank tom cochran and his staff for their hard work in organizing this year's meeting. [applause] i love tommy, and i mean that shot just because i'm standing behind the podium. i love his passion, and i can tell you that one of the delights of being president of the u.s. conference of mayors is working so closely with tom. not only is he one of the hardest working people in washington, he's one of the most passionate. and to have worked here as long as you have and still wake up in the morning and want to fight on behalf of american cities is just an inspiration. give him a big hand. [applause] we are very fortunate to have

him. mayors, back home i know your inboxes are full, your phones are ringing off the hook, so i as much as anyone feel compelled to thank you for investing the time to come to washington this week. now, today the mayors release our metro economies in 2012 report. hope all of you have a copy. they should be on your tables. the findings, well, they're pretty tack and clear. stark and clear. while d.c. dithers, our metro areas are driving america's recovery. and, mayors, washington needs a wake-up call. you know, there's been a lot of talk about the 99%, and there should be. washington needed a wake-up call. for too long issues of social

justice and economic equality have been issues that we have raised again and again, and the congress has sat on the political sidelines. in fact, a few moments ago when nancy pelosi was here, she mentioned our poverty, work and opportunity task force. ever since katrina mayors have been coming together and say you've got to address this growing gap. washington needed to wake up and focus on the middle class families who face piles of past due notices and wonder how they're going to get by. washington needed to wake up and focus on all those americans who face the prospect of an american dream that grows more and more illusive every day. and now as our report shows it's time for washington to wake up to the 90%. that's right, 90% of the nation's economic output is

produced in our cities. from the downtowns to to the suburbs, in our factories and offices, in our ports and industrial parks, over 85% of the nation's jobs are generated in our metro economies. and the report said something else. if cities are leading this recovery, every one of us know t a percentage -- it's a fragile one. we can't let it slip from our grasp. as the findings show, we had a 1.3% job growth across the country last year. that's not nearly enough to put our people back to work. this year we expect just 2% growth in gdp, and that's -- if things fall into place in the way that they could. but there are a whole lot of factors that could interrupt that; what's going on in europe, you know, what's going on in the congress today.

and so despite the neglect and inaction in washington, local leaders have been in the trenches getting things done while congress has played politics on the debt limit. it was cities like akron, ohio, where the mayor convinced the german auto supplier to say made in the usa. there are -- and now more than 100 new jobs for skilled machine workers are available to akron residents. [applause] during this football season while congress punted on infrastructure jobs, it was in places like davenport, iowa, where they created a model downtown jobs program that matches public resources with private dollars to put more people to work. it's a story being replicated from birmingham to boston, in my own city we're making a $4 billion investment at our

airport generating about 40,000 jobs, more than a billion dollar investment in our port to compete with the panama canal, generating another 20,000 jobs. there's a lot we can do with a partnership. but we need the congress to do its job. congress needs to stop starving our economic engine, our metropolitan area and immediately make the common sense investments in transportation, infrastructure and work force development. we heard from elizabeth touts, our former president, just a few moments ago, a republican mayor talking about the need for work force development. work force development, cutting payroll taxes, investing in our roads and our highways, these are things that we've been doing on a bipartisan basis for more than 50 years. we can put people to work by building the foundation that

this country needs to compete around the world. you know, earlier today some of the california mayors were meeting with secretary lahood on the issue of high-speed rail. and one of the things i said was we're debating whether or not we should build high-speed rail in the united states of america 50 years after the japanese built theirs moving more than two billion people in that great country. and by the way, not one fatality as a result of an accident. the fact of the matter is, for all of those who say it costs too much, we're going to have to build it one day. everybody's making investments in high-speed rail. it's going to cost a lot more 20 years from now. but if congress gives us the tools, we, the nation's mayors, will get it done. we'll put more of our people back to work and get america's economy humming again. that will be our message this week. it's simple. congress needs to do its job to

help us put people back to work. [applause] the economic recovery is too slow, and it's a direct result of the inaction of this congress in 2011. now, just imagine for a moment if they had taken our advice last june. imagine if they had invested a small fraction of the $126 billion we're pouring into the wars in iraq and afghanistan. imagine if we had put a million americans back to work last year rebuilding our roads, bridges and our rail here at home with a proposal that was separate and apart from the surface transportation bill but would have invested in infrastructure. i can tell you this, we wouldn't be standing here with 340 of ourties fighting to recover from the great recession.

80 of our metro areas wouldn't need at least another five long years to dig out of this hole. now, the road to recovery will be longer if congress keeps on putting up road block. as mayors, we know that the economic downturn has forced government to take and make tough budget decisions. mayor nutter has had to cut his work force. i've cut a fourth of the city's general fund work force. we've had to almost double from 6% to 11% the amount that people contribute to their pensions for their retiree health. we've had to balance our budget not by passing the buck, but by making the tough decisions. and unfortunately, our local governments are a lot like rodney dangerfield.

we get no respect. always at the bottom of the food chain and the wrong end of the stick. when they cut in d.c., when they cut in our state capitals, it's cities like ours that feel the pain. if only it went the other way. if only we could balance our budgets by slashing waste in our state capitals and here in d.c. but we don't have that luxury. we face down the hard budget decisions with drastic drops in revenue, we struggle to balance our budgets while keeping cops on the beat and picking up the trash on our streets. i didn't hear a loud enough applause for the fact that mayor gray and washington, d.c. have driven down crime and homicides to 1963 levels. [applause] i mean, that is, that is amazing. [applause] that is amazing after cut after

cut after cut. in l.a., some of you know i used to shine shoes at 5 years old. that year was 1958. we haven't within safer than we are today on a per capita basis since 1952. a year before i was born. we need to get this congress to invest in cop grants. we need to, we've had a layoff of hard working employees, we've consolidated departments and closed down others, and while we've been working we've had to watch the world' best-paid debating society in the u.s. congress. we've had to watch as they use our time and, by the way, our tax dollars to pursue a campaign strategy of inaction and obstruction. designed to defeat president obama. now, the american people need an economic strategy right now, not a political one. and the chamber of the house of representatives right behind the speaker's chair there's a quote

by daniel webster, one of our country's great legislators and thinkers. it's an inspiring call to action that shows great confidence in america's capacity to do big things. you heard arianna talking about that capacity a few minutes ago. and he said, let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests and see whether we also in our day and our generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered. but these days another quote might be more appropriate. i watched the congress this summer and fall. i don't think any of us thought of daniel webster. i thought of another great american thinker. i thought of yogi berra. with each failure on jobs, it was just like yogi said; déjà vu

all over again. what we've seen is a congress that keeps on making the same mistakes. if we gave the 112th congress a midterm report card, the grade would be clear. congress would get an f for failure. now, i can't say it more clearly and neither can any of you. congress has flunked, they've failed, and we, the american people and our cities, can't afford this failure. we can't afford this inaction. we can't afford a congress where the representatives with the least experience and the most rigid views routinely block good bills and believe that brinksmanship is the only way to negotiate. some of you know that i was an assembly member, majority whip, majority leader, speaker of the california state assembly. i remember when we used to value in our legislators, in our

leaders compromise. i remember when we used to value those states people, those people that were bigger that finish bigger than themselves and willing to focus on solutions. i remember when we worked across the aisle. in fact, the first thing i did as speaker of the state assembly with democrats on one side of the aisle and republicans on the other is i sat them together. i gave the republicans who were the minority at the time the ability to name every vice chair for the first time in modern history. i gave them more proportionality of resources, and we worked together. when i ended, i said after six years i said, you know, i've learned a lot in the six years i've been here, i learned the democrats i worked with every day i wouldn't invite home to my dinner, there are republicans who i never vote with that i would. i learned that people are people, and we need the congress to start understanding that. we can't afford a congress where

again and again the public interest is sacrificed in the name of brain dead partisanship. congress has to be place where all of our representatives understand that obstruction isn't governance. it's an abdication of responsibility. in fact -- [applause] in fact, it's political malpractice. you know, we've all been watching in horror as this story unfolds of the sinking and sunk concordia. imagine a captain abandoning the ship with untold number of people, his passengers who he's duty-bound to represent and care for be, imagine jumping into that high boat before the women and children. well, that's what these people are doing with the economy. we're trying to right the ship, and they don't care that it's

sinking before their very eyes. now, congress has to be a place where our representatives appreciate that compromise isn't betrayal. it's the best way for political partisans to work together. mayor nutter likes to say -- and nobody says it more eloquently -- he likes to say when people bump into him on the street or in the neighborhood, nobody asks him about the deficit. again and again and again their question is, mayor nutter, when are you going to get me a job? i want to get to work. well, that's the question we have for the congress. it's got to be a place where congress takes webster's words seriously and builds up our institutions. last june we made an offer to the country and our leaders here in washington. we pledged that as mayors we were willing to lead.

we dealt with the devastating effects of the greatest recession in our lifetime. we understood the problems, and we were ready with solutions. i want to remind you, and we all have a copy somewhere of the common sense jobs agenda that we put together. now, you all remember what its origins were. we went to democratic and republican think tanks, and we said find me initiatives that over the last 50 years have been supported by democrats and republicans alike. initiatives like infrastructure investment, initiatives like work force training that the u.s. chamber and the afl-cio all support. we said find us initiatives that we can join hands together and present to the congress to put people back to work. well, lo and behold virtually none of those proposals have found any support in the house.

but i'll tell ya, that' just not good enough. -- that's just not good enough. you know, if first half of the 112th session was failure, those of us who studied know that you might get a fail or an f on the midterm, and if you work hard and you apply yourself, who knows? you might get a passing grade. and that's why we're here. a lot of people have asked, and they said, well, mayor, they asked us at the press conference, well, with the abject failure of this congress, why would you come in the middle of a political season and ask them to do more? and the answer is, because that's what the people of our cities want. we pledged that we'd offer practical ideas that would work across the country. but in june, as i said, we also said we can't succeed alone. we need a congress that was handgun to act -- that was willing to act on jobs, we need a congress that was willing to

give us support with federal funds and put even more people back to work. in june we were hopeful, the country was hopeful that congress would never be foolhardy enough to take the nation to the brink of default but it was, and it did. this summer and fall we all hoped that the supercommittee would adopt a new game plan and come to common sense budget agreement that balanced cuts with new revenues. unfortunately, the supercommittee ended in a super collapse. and now in 2013 we face automatic and mandatory cuts over a nine-year period that will total $1.2 trillion. cuts that will devastate vital programs that our constituents count on, cuts that will further hamper our economic recovery. now, most of all mayors hoped that congress would act decisively on the jobs package

sent to the hill by president obama, but it failed here too. congress had a chance to provide a long-term extension of the payroll tax cut. now, these are people that ran on a campaign of tax cut and never saw a tax cut they didn't like until the president proposed it. now, we know that that failure has left millions of people dependent on unemployment insurance wondering how soon their benefits will expire. it missed the opportunity to keep thousands of qualified teachers in the class rooms, and it's done nothing to help those who dropped out of the labor market get the training they need to yet back on their feet and qualify for the jobs of the future. all for the sake of political advantage and partisan ideology. well, i think i speak for all of you when i say it's time to put the country before our party and the people before all else. i know what the pundits say. they say it's an election year and that nothing gets done in an election year.

but with 12% unemployment in my hometown, we immediate to throw out -- we need to throw out the usual playbook. we need to get things done. as mayors, we've held up our side of the bargain, and the offer we made in june still stands. it's now time for the congress to act. i said if congress wants a midterm, it can still get a passing grade. when congress returns to session, it must make a down payment on america's economic future. it must pass the comprehensive, long-term jobs bill. we don't need another extension. we need an extension of leadership. we need a bill. we need a bill that puts more money in workers' pockets with a sustained payroll tax cut, a jobs bill that gives businesses large and small incentives to hire new worker, a jobs bill that looks to the future and helps american workers get the training and skills they need to compete for the global economy's good paying jobs. when congress returns to work, it must stop the threat to the

community development block grant program. [applause] a few minutes ago you heard mayor nutter talk about the foreclosure process that's blighted countless neighborhoods, littering them with boarded-up homes. since 1974cdbg has been one of the most effective programs for addressing blight like this and revitalizing our communities. but over the last two years, congress has slashed this funding by a billion dollars. we can't have the budget axe hanging over our heads. cdbg is a crucial source of funding for cities. mayor nutter mentioned earlier today there's a three to one dividend on the investment of mayor smith, a republican, said when talking about when answering the question about

don't we need to make cuts, he said there are smart cuts, and there are dumb cuts, and i think you couldn't have said it any better. cuts that hurt investments that produce dividends like housing and economic development are the wrong cuts. it helps working people improve their job skills, it's time to stop the cuts. it's time to restore full funding to cdbg. [applause] i mentioned congress has cut critical public safety programs. the last two years cop-hiring grants have taken a 44% cut. the burn justice assistance grants have been slashed by a third. over the last year, firefighter assistance programs have been trimmed by 16%. in 2012 we need to restore public safety funding. now, congress has to get the

message. homeland security begins with hometown security. the last seven years the u.s. conference of mayors has promoted consumer financial protection and education. we saw how we got in to this economic mess. we got in this mess with derivatives, we got in this mess with predatory lending, and now we need a real ally in the new consumer financial protection bureau. since its inception, some in congress have tried to stop the bureau in it tracks. the time for games are over. we call in the congress to let the bureau do it work. the american economy work best when -- works best when everyone plays by the same rules, and consumers have real protection from predatory business practices. it's good for business, and it's good for america. and it's the fair and right thing to do. when our representatives get

back to their desks, they need to pass the surface transportation bill. we need a long-term transportation funding plan, not short term stopgaps. the boxer-inhofe bill would create millions of good paying jobs across the country in places like millford, ohio, "bulls & blairsville, pennsylvania. it will launch america forward which, as you know, 1200 of you have signed on to the idea of high deficits and debt, they ought to loan us the money to accelerate our programs and put people back to work. a million people will get back to work with america fast forward alone. so these are the kinds of things that congress can and should do. it will make critical improvements to our aging transportation infrastructure. businesses in our city will get their goods to market faster, and our residents will spend

less time gritting their teeth in gridlock and spending more time on the things that matter. mayors, this is the time. our cities provide the power to the american economy. the metro economies report makes that absolutely clear. our constituents produce the goods and the services that the country and the world depend on. the companies in our industrial parks and our manufacturing centers are creating america's jobs. but for all the hard work going on across the country to get our economy moving again, we haven't seen the same from our leaders and representatives here in d.c. and this political season we will be heard. we need to demand a vision for our metropolitan areas. we these to insure their -- we need to insure their commitment to our cities, and above all, we need action, not talk. we can't wait another year. we can't accept business as

usual and, above all, we cannot have another season of abject failure. this is the time, this is our time, the future's in your hands. thank you so much. [applause] now, i think it's important, and we all thought that starting out with arianna who's certainly a visionary and someone, a patriot who understands the need for america to reclaim the values and the priorities that made it great. and then speaker pelosi who, as i said, i don't think there's a better friend in the congress. again and again and again she's there.

my state of the cities report, and now we have an opportunity to have a very special closing speaker this afternoon. joel benenson is one of the hardest working pollsters in national politics. i know for a fact that joel dreams about cross tabs. he was the lead pollster and senior strategist for president barack obama during the 2008 election, and he'll continue in that role in this cycle. he's been a pollster and a strategist for u.s. senators, governors and, yes, mayors from around the country. at all after our recent meetings, i've asked that national poller thes help us better -- pollsters help us better understand the priorities of the american people, how a bipartisan agenda on job creation is registering with voters, and i'm very pleased that joel is here today with his polling data to help us with that discussion. so, please, join me in welcoming

joel benenson. [applause] >> thank you, mayor i have ri goes saw. thank you to the conference of majors and all of you for inviting me today. i don't know if mayor knows this or not when he quoted yogi berra, bun of the charitable ventures that i engage in back home is i'm on the board of directors of the yogi berra museum and learning center. [laughter] yogi lives in montclair, new jersey, which is the town where i live in. 's lived there since he -- he's lived this since he played for the yankees, and there are two remarkable things about all of the great things we know that yogi has said over the years. one is that they're all true. there's actually a book on the zen of yogi, but even the one that says when you come to a fork in the road, take it, is actually true. yogi's house was at the end of a cul-de-sac around a fork, and whenever he gave people to his

directions to his house, he would say when you come to the fork in the road, he would say, take it, and whichever way you went, you would come to his house. and the other one that i'll share with you is former governor mario cuomo of new york who is from queens, new york, where i grew up on the streets of a blue collar neighborhood -- i grew up in laurelon the, he grew up in queens village, but he once asked him, yogi, did you say all those things? yogi said, well, if consistent, i should have. so if there's anything i don't get to, i probably should have, and we've reserved some time for questions and answers. i'd also like to just announce very quickly here that benenson strategy group, i think of it always as a small firm. i started it with just three people, and for those of you who are mayors of the city of denver, of mayor gray of washington, d.c. and in new york, we're an employer in those

cities. we've grown to all of those, and as of november the chairman of this conference, me your villaraigosa, is a city where we now employ people, we have an office in los angeles. what i thought i would do today is i know you're going to talk a lot of politics with anita dunn and steve schmidt from the republican side and talk about the election specifically, but what i thought i'd do, and i think it links up well with what the mayor laid out today, what are some of the underlying attitudes that really shape the mindset of american voters and are going to shape the dialogue and the conversation that you're going to have throughout 2012? now, i will touch on politics, i promise you, and i certainly coming from queens in new york city i will take any questions and, certainly, any challenging questions. queens is a place where we like to say that a day without an argument is a lost opportunity. so we will certainly get to that. um, we've got a lot of technology here, so hopefully

it'll work right. there we go. um, look, i think it's important that we start with understanding the context that we're in. the american people never believed that this was an ordinary recession. if you go back to data that was taken in december of 2008 and all the data i'm going to present today is from various public sources, not the internal stuff that i do for my clients nationally or locally. but if you go back, you had four in ten people in 2008 who told gallup that they didn't even think that we would start to recover from this recession during president obama's first term. if you take a look at the 16% at the bottom of that pie, that orange slice, that adds in another 16% who thought it would take just three years even to get the recovery started. the point of this isn't to say that they've got very long patience, that when you end counter them on -- encounter

them on the streets, they're not very anxious about the moment we're in. but they understood this crisis wasn't created overnight, and we weren't going to get out of it overnight. i've done work with middle class voters since 2005, people i call the vast middle. middle income, middle american values, some from the heartland. you could talk to latino voters in new jersey or suburban voters in phoenix, and you heard the same story. people then believed that the economy was changing as far back as 2005, that the rules they saw their parents grow up with and that they grew up with were out of sync, that something was out of balance. so when this finally hits in 2008, the notion that they're not believing in quick fixes in the same kind of stuff they've heard before was very palpable to them. and they also, at the same time, believe and understand that the economy that we're in is changing. you know, to eric spiegel's point who i think his notes on

manufacturing were critically important, america is still the leading or second leading manufacturer in the world depending on how you look at it and the notion of high skilled manufacturing growing and being the wave of the future here is something that's palpable and true. but the economy does look very different to people today, and when you ask a question about whether they think when the economy finally recovers, allstate does a series of polls called the heartland, do you think that the economy will be very different from what it was before the recession, or will it look the same? and by an overwhelming majority, just about three to one, people believe that this economy is going to be different after we get out of this recession. and this goes beyond just technological changes. they really do think that the basic rules have shifted on them, and they don't ask for much. but what they want when you talk to working americans is just a sense of reciprocity. that if i'm a loyal employee, if

identify done my job well -- i've done my job well, all i want back from you is the same loyalty i've given. if i've gotten outstanding performance evaluations in my job, don't give me a nine-cent-an-hour raise at the end while your business is still doing well. take a look out for my future as well as yours. they're very clear about where they see the factors that contribute today this downturn are. allstate back in october of 2011 asked americans what is the number one reason that caused the downturn, the number one contributing factor. they then followed that up with a question on the same list, what's the number two factor as well. the most striking piece of data here is that 51% saw the risky investments of the big banks as the number one reason. the second most cited reason is

american companies are not investing in america. american voters today, and you folks probably encounter this day in and day out, they're very aware of the fact that there have been significant profits accumulated over the past few years by american businesses that are sitting on the sidelines and not being reinvested and that could strengthen the american work force, it could strengthen the american economy. so it goes beyond just outsourcing. they're very aware of what the potential is for that as well. they then go on to talk about the 37% say if you look at the middle bar the policies of the bush administration. families taking out debt and credit card, 35%, and then lastly on the far right on the list, 26% talk about the economic policies of president obama. understand on the -- they're not immune to the talk of the deficit. they're not unawe ware of -- unaware of it. they're very aware that we had a surplus in 2000 that became a deficit by the time we got to the end of 2008. but they're also, they have been

since this time when i started really focusing on middle class and working class voters throughout america in 2005, thai been very wortherred by their own personal -- bothered by their own personal debt. they see it as limiting their potential to advance. not, you know, americans don't blame others, they don't look to point fingers, they take responsibility for things on their own. and people back in focus groups that we talked to in 2005 said things like if i don't pay off my credit card bills when my paycheck comes in, i've got to pay somebody else before i can pay me and my family. and when you look at the behavioral shifts that are occurring now with people saying i'm going to pay down credit card debt instead of buying, these deep-rooted sentiments and attitudes are really coming to play in a way that have a big impact on us. so it does ladder up somewhat to the deficit discussion that we have. they do think it's something that we have to address along the way. but theyal see the linger -- they also see the lingering

unemployment rates at 8% which no one is happy about. president obama announced when the job numbers came out last month we are making progress, but we still have work to do. but the american people, and this is from a bloomberg study back in 2011, they link the persistent unemployment to several structural problems in the economy. they're linking it to u.s. companies investing in jobs overseas. they understand that the job market has changed and some of the jobs that used to give people a path from poverty into the working class, from the working class into the middle class may not exist, and there's going to have to be some investments made in education and training to get us out of that, and they also believe that the financial crisis will take time. perhaps some of the most jarring numbers to think about and the toll that this takes on americans are that some of the fundamentals, some of the rock solid fundamentals that people

believed in have shifted for the first time. so when i tell you that, oh, they see the rules have changed, in fact, many of them say it's not just that the rules have changed, i don't even recognize the rules. some of this data is really quite striking. on the left side of this, for the first time since gallup tracked this question on whether people think that today's youth will have a better life than their parents, a majority say it's unlikely. that's the first time that's happened. i'm showing you the results from 2011. it first went into the majority a little bit earlier. and on the right, you know, i grew up, my mother was a single mom in the '50s probably before the term was ever coined. i grew up in a working class family, as i said, there were three kids. i was the youngest of three. you know, we were told growing up everybody had to graduate from high school. my mother's dream, probably like many of you in this college, was for -- many of you in this room, was for all their children to go to college. and when you look at the right, at the heartl